


Some Things Never Change

by hchollym



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Babysitting, First Crush, Fluff, Humor, Kid Fic, M/M, Mischief, Puppy Love, Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-11-15
Packaged: 2018-01-01 15:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hchollym/pseuds/hchollym
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo and Thorin are accidentally de-aged into young children, and the company is forced to babysit them while Gandalf thinks of a solution. Little Bilbo is a trouble-maker and a flirt, and little Thorin has an attitude and a massive puppy crush on the hobbit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Things Never Change

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Kids Are All Right](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037156) by [silverneko9lives0](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverneko9lives0/pseuds/silverneko9lives0). 



> This story was inspired by the work listed above, which was so adorable that I couldn't resist writing my own kid!Bagginshield story. It's not nearly as good, but it was sure fun to write! The flowers included are daisies (innocence) and lilacs (youth). Comments are always lovely.

Bilbo was enjoying Beorn’s garden immensely. After their battle with Azog, it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy the flowers that were in bloom with their array of colors and smells. Bilbo was standing in the midst of a patch of daisies and lilacs, and Thorin was standing nearby in a conversation with Dwalin and Balin about the path ahead. 

Bofur, Bifur and Bombur were joking with each other as the rest of the dwarves simply relaxed and nursed their sore limbs from the battle. Gandalf had his eyes closed and was focusing his energy on something that no one bothered to ask him about, for they knew that he would not give them a straight answer. 

If Fili and Kili had been paying attention, they would have noticed the wizard’s staff began to glow with light, and this would have saved everyone quite a bit of trouble. However, they did not notice, and so it was rather unfortunate that Fili was chasing Kili and the younger ran into Gandalf at that exact moment. He stumbled and his staff pointed towards Bilbo. 

Upon seeing the staff pointed at their burglar, Thorin let his instincts take over as he jumped into action, trying to push Bilbo out of the way of whatever magic was going to come. It was also unfortunate that he was not quite fast enough though, and the light that burst from the staff hit both the dwarf king and the hobbit. 

Their sight was blinded by the brilliant light for a moment, before it subsided to show two small children where Bilbo and Thorin had previously been. Gandalf glared menacingly at Kili and Fili and began to bellow things in an unknown language that made the boys flinch at their implication. 

The wizard and company walked over to the small children and instantly recognized them as Bilbo and Thorin’s younger selves. Bilbo had the same curly, golden hair but he was thinner, and Thorin’s dark locks were shorter without the slightest hint of a beard on his face. They both seemed to be sleeping comfortably as the company’s eyes went wide at the sight. 

“That is not good,” Fili said conversationally, and everyone turned to glare at him and his brother. 

“What do we do?!” Bombur cried out, and Gandalf sighed in clear annoyance. He prodded the figures with his staff, and they began to stir out of their sleep. Their eyes opened wearily but upon seeing their surroundings, they both jumped up instantly. It was lucky that they both recognized Gandalf; otherwise they would have been much more afraid.

Instead, Bilbo was simply wide-eyed and curious. “Where are we? Are you all dwarves? How did I get here?” Thorin, on the other hand, was not quite as polite.

“I am the prince of Erebor, and as my subjects, I demand to know where I am!” Some of the company snorted in amusement at Thorin’s attitude. Aside from Gandalf, Balin was the only one that actually remembered their king at this young age, so he was not at all surprised by the statement and merely rolled his eyes. Gandalf tutted at Thorin’s rudeness before answering. 

“You are both on an adventure. You don’t remember because there was a little mishap with my magic, but not to worry, I will sort things out soon enough!” Bilbo seemed perfectly content with this explanation, but Thorin grumbled about stupid wizards. Gandalf smacked him on the back of the head, which earned the wizard a glare from the young king, but he paid no mind to that. 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going for a walk to ponder what to do about this unfortunate situation.” He stopped to glare at Kili and Fili again. “I will return when I have figured something out. In the meantime, I suggest you keep an eye on these two.” 

The company grumbled and complained loudly about Gandalf always abandoning them. “You just don’t want to watch them!” Bofur argued, and Gandalf let a glimmer of amusement twinkle in his eyes, but he chose not to answer. This served them right for always being so damn stubborn. “Good luck. I shall be back.” 

When he had disappeared into the forest, Dori sighed and faced the children. “Alright, you two, go inside until we can figure out what to do with you.” They both looked outraged at his order.. 

“I’m the prince! You can’t tell me what to do!” Thorin said, followed by Bilbo, who piped up defiantly, “Me neither!” 

It seemed only then that the young Thorin finally noticed the boy beside him. His eyes widened, and he blushed furiously. Bilbo seemed to notice the dark-haired boy at this point too and grinned widely, his complaint with Dori already forgotten. 

“Hi, I’m Bilbo. What’s your name?” 

Thorin shuffled his feet and looked down nervously. “Th, Thorin.” Most of the dwarves raised their eyebrows at this, but chose to stay silent. 

Kili was not as smart. He laughed out loud before proclaiming, “Oh, I am never going to let Thorin live this down!” The younger version of the king glared at him with all the force of his adult glares, but it seemed lessened by his small body. 

Dwalin rolled his eyes. Gandalf might as well have turned Fili and Kili into children again, since they certainly still acted like them. “Okay, enough. Thorin, Bilbo, go inside.” Bilbo shook his head and screamed “No!” before running away through the field. Thorin watched him go for a second before darting after him. 

The company stood in shock by their act of defiance before finally jumping to action and chasing after the two. The boys were grinning and laughing as the adults tried to chase them, and Balin couldn’t remember Thorin looking so carefree when he actually was that age. 

“Alright, boys, enough. Stop this right now!” Gloin bellowed and both boys stopped mid-stride. “Good, now go inside and sit down to eat lunch.” They grudgingly complied, and the company gaped at Gloin. 

“How did you do that?” Bofur asked, receiving a mere shrug from the other dwarf. 

“You just have to be stern with them. It works with my Gimli.” 

As they sat down for lunch, Bilbo and Thorin sat down next to each other, with Kili at Thorin’s left and Fili at Bilbo’s right. The hobbit instantly turned his curious attention on the blonde. “Can I touch your beard?” 

Fili blinked in surprise before he noticed that Thorin had scowled and crossed his arms angrily, glaring daggers at Fili. Fili looked between the two and decided that it would be better to let Bilbo down than anger his uncle further. Who knew what they would remember after they were changed back to adults, and an adult Thorin was much more intimidating than an adult Bilbo. 

“Ah, no, I don’t think so. Sorry Bilbo,” Fili replied as gently as he could. Bilbo sat back and pouted. Fili looked between Thorin’s scowling face and Bilbo’s pouting one, and he wondered how the hell they were going to make it until Gandalf fixed this mess. These children would be the death of him. 

After lunch, they went back outside to let young Thorin and Bilbo run off some energy. Bilbo was fascinated by the horses, which looked very much like giants to his small form. Thorin walked up to him nervously and thrust a bundle of flowers at the hobbit. 

Bilbo beamed at him radiantly and thanked him, before taking one the flowers and putting it behind Thorin’s ear in his hair. Thorin’s face turned crimson from his neck up to his ears at the gesture. The company put their hands to their mouths to stifle their laughter at the sight of their king with such a huge puppy crush on their resident burglar. 

Thorin reached out to touch the horse that Bilbo was petting, but it neighed and jerked its head away from the dwarf king. Thorin’s eyes widened before he growled and stalked away, sitting down by a tree and sulking. Now that was a sight that the company was used to. 

Thorin eventually grew tired of brooding, having a much smaller attention span than his adult self, and he picked up a small stone and flung it at Bilbo to get the other’s attention. It hit him on the back of the head, and the hobbit rounded on him as anger flashed in his eyes. 

“Hey! What was that for?” Thorin seemed at a loss for words, so he merely shrugged as he stood up and walked towards the other boy. Bilbo was having none of it though and tackled Thorin to the ground. Thorin was taken aback by the sudden act of aggression and his mouth hung open as he stared at Bilbo, who was now on top of him. 

When Bilbo began tickling him, Thorin yelped and fought back, flipping them over. They wrestled and rolled around in the dirt while everyone watched the pair in interest. By the time they broke apart, gasping for air, they were both grinning widely. 

Thorin blushed when Bilbo met his gaze, and even Balin, who’d known Thorin since he was just a babe, didn’t think he’d ever seen the king blush so much in his life. It was quite adorable, actually. It made the usually intimidating king look much more approachable. 

Bilbo caught his breath first and poked Thorin. “Tag, you’re it!” He jumped off and started to run away before he noticed that Thorin was not following.

The dark-haired boy was staring at him in confusion. “I’m what?” 

Bilbo blinked. “You’re it!” 

Thorin furrowed his brows. “What?” 

Bilbo huffed in annoyance. “It!” 

Thorin narrowed his eyes, become increasingly annoyed and offended. What was Bilbo calling him, and why wouldn’t he just tell him? “I’m what!?” He practically screamed, and Bilbo glared at him. 

“You’re it!” This became a shouting match that the other dwarves watched in amusement, before Balin, ever the wise dwarf, decided it was best to intervene before there was any bloodshed. He explained the game to Thorin, who seemed relieved that Bilbo wasn’t insulting him, but confused about the point of the game. 

“Why would anyone play that?” Bilbo tutted at him and put his hands on his hips in a manner that reminded Thorin quite a bit of his mother.

“Because it’s fun,” he said in a tone that indicted that he thought Thorin’s question was stupid. Thorin huffed, but finally agreed to play. It was obvious, however, that he hadn’t quite grasped the concept, because every time it was Bilbo’s turn, the dwarf just stood there and let him tag him. They finally gave up in favor of exploring. 

Bilbo picked up a worm from under a rock and showed it to Thorin, who scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Ew.” 

Bilbo scowled at him. “Don’t be such a girl,” he complained defensively. The company gaped at him as the king began to splutter angrily and then looked as if he was going to kill the hobbit in front of him. 

Luckily, Kili’s fast reflexes let him jump in and pull Thorin away before he could attack Bilbo. He tried to fight his way out of the older dwarf’s grip, kicking and hitting before he finally bit down hard on his arm. Kili yelped and dropped him, glaring at him angrily. Thorin merely glared back defiantly, and Kili glowered at him. 

“I swear, there is no way that we were this bad when we were that age!” He directed his statement to Fili, who nodded in agreement, but most of the other dwarves gave them pointed looks as if to say they most certainly were. 

Gloin, who seemed to have been unanimously voted the lead babysitter, decided it was time to go inside. “Alright, lads, let’s get you washed up before dinner.” They started to argue, but he gave them one harsh look, and they bit their tongues and complied unhappily. 

Fili and Kili were given the unpleasant task of washing them, seeing as all of this was their fault to begin with. Bilbo picked up one of the buckets of water and splashed it onto Kili, thoroughly soaking his face, hair and clothes. The hobbit started giggling uncontrollably, and Thorin joined in soon after. Kili grumbled as he dried his face off with a spare shirt. 

“And here I thought Thorin was going to be the bad influence.” Fili smirked, but didn’t dare say anything, lest the boys turn their rebellious behavior on him.

Bilbo ate his dinner with very little fuss, which everyone was grateful for, but Thorin was still being a pain in the butt.

“I don’t want honey. I want meat. This isn’t the type of food that a prince should eat!” Dori was tempted to shove the food down Thorin’s throat, but finally thought better of it. 

“Oh, I think it’s good!” Bilbo stated with a mouthful of food. Thorin’s argument fell short as his mouth snapped shut, and he silently started to eat his own food reluctantly. The company breathed out sighs of relief; another battle avoided. They were becoming quite proud of themselves for making it this far with the pair. 

Once their plates were clean, Bilbo began to hum happily. Thorin wasn’t even trying to hide his gaze as he watched the little hobbit in awe. Bilbo stopped when he noticed Thorin staring and he cocked his head to the side with a shy smile. Thorin blushed and looked away, causing Bilbo’s smile to widen. 

“You’re cute when you blush,” he stated matter-of-factly. 

Fili sniggered. “Who knew Bilbo was such a flirt as a child?” Several of the others muttered their agreements with amused smiles on their faces. 

Thorin seemed to be frozen in shock before he impulsively pressed a quick peck on Bilbo’s lips. The company gaped at him as he jerked back immediately after realizing what he’d done. His eyes went wide in embarrassment, and he tried to stammer out an apology. 

Bilbo just grinned and laughed, taking the dwarf’s hand in his own and pulling him around Beorn’s house to explore the inside. Thorin followed him, seemingly lost in a daze, but happy none-the-less. 

After the initial shock wore off, every member of the company burst out laughing. Bofur, Fili, and Kili had tears in their eyes as they held their stomachs and doubled-over. They let the two boys enjoy themselves for a little while longer before Bombur said, “Time for bed, lads.” 

They both shouted in protests, and it took five adult dwarves to wrangle them into lying down. They both pouted, but exhaustion finally gave way, and they fell asleep cuddling. The group of twelve dwarves surrounded the slumbering boys. 

“Aww, they look so cute like this,” Ori said, but Kili groaned. 

“Yea, but they’re not so cute when they’re awake!” Fili patted his brother’s shoulder sympathetically.

“Well, I think we did well!” Bofur boasted happily, and they all turned to gape at him. 

“You call that well? It was a disaster! How does anyone do that?! I swear, if Gandalf doesn’t get back here and change them back soon, I am going to go mad. I would rather face down Smaug alone than take care of those brats for another day!” Kili complained, still rather miffed at being splashed with water and bitten by his uncle. 

While his statement was a bit exaggerated, most of the company nodded in agreement of the general idea, and as if on cue, Gandalf returned. He saw Thorin and Bilbo cuddled up peacefully next to each other, but said nothing of it. He was not overly shocked, after all. 

He murmured something under his breath, and the company was once again blinded by light as it surrounded the two boys. When it was gone, the adult forms of Thorin and Bilbo were back, still cuddling peacefully on the bed. After the waves of relief flooded through them, the dwarves laughed again at the sight of their adult king and burglar cuddling together so innocently. 

The two were roused by the sound and sat up. As they realized that they were holding each other, they jumped apart, both wearing similar expressions of horror at what they remembered from that day. Bilbo covered his face in his hands and said “Oh my god” while Thorin swore loudly in Khuzdul. 

“Now, now, calm down. There was no harm done,” Gandalf said merrily, and Bilbo swore that the old wizard was enjoying this. Both he and Thorin glared at the wizard before reluctantly meeting each other’s gazes. With Thorin’s accusing gaze on him, Bilbo couldn’t stop himself from blurting out the obvious. 

“You kissed me!” Thorin scowled at his outburst. 

“You wanted to touch Fili’s beard!” He shot back bitterly. The jealousy in his tone was evident, and Bilbo was stunned silent for a moment, his eyes widening. Then he laughed, causing Thorin’s scowl to deepen until Bilbo kissed his lips lightly. It was as innocent as their earlier kiss, but under the circumstances, it seemed to mean so much more.

Thorin gaped at him, completely overcome with a mixture of shock and happiness as he felt his lips tingle where Bilbo had kissed them. Everyone else seemed just as surprised, save for Gandalf, Balin and Bofur, who simply smirked or rolled their eyes. 

“I’d much rather touch your beard now,” Bilbo continued, flashing the king a smile and winking at him. Thorin couldn’t help the blush that colored his cheeks, though it looked much more out of place on his face as an adult. 

Nori sniggered. “Apparently some things never change.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Lillies and Chocolate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162583) by [thisislegit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisislegit/pseuds/thisislegit)




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